Mobile Set Top Box

ABSTRACT

A system is provided in which IP or media content residing on or being streamed to a mobile phone is forwarded to a display. The media content supports a native resolution of the mobile phone that is significantly smaller than a native resolution of said display. The system has media content processing circuitry, which up-scales the media content to the display native resolution. The system forwards the up-scaled media content to the display, whereby the display provides the up-scaled media content to a viewer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/576,391, filed Oct. 9, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,863,223, and claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/142,190, filedon Dec. 31, 2008. The disclosures of both of these applications areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The invention described herein relates to a mobile set top box forreceiving content and reformatting for and sending to a display thecontent for viewing.

2. Background of the Prior Art

Television and internet users access content available over cable,satellite and Internet networks. Each of those networks transmitscontent over the networks and allows the users to view the content on atelevision or computer screens.

With respect to televisions, television users commonly access contentusing a set top box. The box is a dedicated computing device that servesas an interface between a display and a broadband network. A common settop box is a cable or satellite set top box found in homes with a cableor satellite television connection. The set top box receives atelevision signal over the cable lines or from a satellite dish,reformats the data in the signal and sends to a television the data fordisplay by the television. The set top box also allows a televisionviewer to access content such as on-screen programming guides,interactive content such as home or auto advertisements, games oron-demand movies.

Set top boxes, however, have limitations. For example, set top boxes canbe used only with the network that provides the boxes. For example, aset top box provided by Verizon FIOS can not be used on a Comcast cablenetwork. Moreover, content output from set top boxes can only be viewedon devices which are capable of receiving TV signals.

With respect to computers, Internet users commonly access content usinga desktop or laptop computer. While Internet access points are availablein many locations, many computer users will not transport their desktopcomputers between locations. Laptop computer users often transport theirlaptops and some laptop users have a modem card that allows them toaccess the Internet over a wireless network such as Verizon's, Sprint'sor AT&T's wireless networks. The laptop computers, however, usually onlyallow the users to view the content on the laptop screen or anothercomputer peripheral.

Other mobile computing devices such as mobile telephones are available,but they also have limitations regarding content access. For example,along with wireless phone service, many wireless providers such asVerizon, Sprint and AT&T also provide the ability to access content overthe Internet or content from the providers such as through Verizon's VCast service.

Today, a mobile computer device such as a mobile phone, PDA orSmartphone is the primary device people use to connect wirelessly.Broadband data cards provided by wireless carriers are growing in use,but the numbers of such cards are a fraction of the number of mobilephones being used for voice and data communications. Although there aremany reasons for this, a factor is the size of the mobile phone/PDAdevice.

Various prior art references have attempted to harness the abilities ofknown mobile phones. A specific example is International PublicationNumber WO 03/032504, for Methods and Systems of Wireless CommunicationBetween a Remote Data Network and a Set-Top Box. This publication isdirected to the field of wireless data transmission and reception. Theinvention disclosed therein particularly relates to a data transmissionand reception system including systems and methods for using a wirelesstelephone to receive and transmit packet signals via a wireless orcellular network for display on a standard television using a set-topbox.

The disclosure of this reference is directed to a location-specificimplementation, replacing the distribution network for traditionalset-top boxes in those locations where there is no wireline system. Forexample, the reference teaches that “there is a need for a system thatprovides Internet access to areas where landline telephone networks donot exist or are unreliable.”

A further example is International Publication Number WO 08/136620 for aMethod and System for Receiving Digital Broadcasting by Using MobileCommunication Terminal. The disclosure is related to “a system andmethod for receiving digital broadcasts by using a mobile communicationterminal. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and amethod for receiving digital broadcasts by connecting a digitalbroadcast receiving device to a mobile communication terminal so thatthe mobile communication terminal replaces circuits of the digitalbroadcast receiving device . . . .”

The disclosure of this reference indicates that its invention is limitedto displaying over-the-air signals on a mobile terminal. This isaccomplished by moving direct digital broadcast signals (e.g. DBS) thatwould normally be received by an antenna and set top box with the sametechnology.

Mobile computing devices have limitations not recognized in the citedreferences. Many mobile computing devices can not be connected to largedisplay monitors. Furthermore, many wireless networks have low bandwidthin comparison to Internet, cable or satellite transmissions systems.Based on available bandwidth considerations and processing power of aparticular mobile computing device, content transferred to a mobilecomputing device is typically sized to fit only the mobile computingdevice.

For example, the bandwidth of a mobile phone communicating over anEnhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE) network, which is the protocolutilized by many Smartphones in the United States, is sufficient tosupport streaming content encoded for QVGA (Quarter Video GraphicsArray) resolution, which may be the native resolution for a givenSmartphone. However, this bandwidth is not nearly enough for supportingvideo at, for example, 1080p resolution (full HD), which may be thenative resolution for a target display.

It can be appreciated that streaming low-resolution video from acellular phone to an HD-TV has not been a reasonable option. However, asmobile phones approach global ubiquity, and as 3G and 4G networks aswell as WiFi and WiMax begin to proliferate, the availability ofhigh-speed wireless data transmission networks anywhere is near.

Accordingly, there is a need for a mobile set top box that combines thefunctionality of a set top box and a mobile communication system suchthat content normally available at discrete locations can be availableany time, any where a user seeks access to such content.

In addition, there is a further need to enable the mobile set top box toup-convert content intended for a mobile computer device, such as amobile phone, so that the content is properly viewed on a largerdisplay, such as a large screen HD-TV.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions solve the aforementioned problems by providing amobile set top box that acts as a conduit between disparate datanetworks and display devices.

An object of the invention is to provide a mobile set top box forgaining access to mobile content through broadband networks as well asstandard over-the-air distribution.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile set top box thatleverages the versatility of the widely accepted mobile phone/PDAs and,when combined with the mobile phones/PDAs, is used as an integrator forprojection of content and interaction. This includes leveraging the cellcarriers, as well as WiFi, WiMAX, and MSS (Mobile Satellite Services)networks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile set top box whichis capable of authenticating a user so that the user can receive mediaservice.

Another object of the invention to provide a mobile set top box whichhas the ability to receive programming information via a cellular orother network, receive a selection of real time or stored video andaudio from a user, and perform up-conversions to display the mediaconfigured for a mobile computing device, such as a cellular phone, on alarge screen HD-TV.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile set top box whichreceives, as an intermediate component, video and audio received fromcellular or other networks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile set top box whichenables a user to “surf channels”.

In addition to decoding and rendering broadcast TV signals, anotherobject of the invention is to provide a mobile set top box which iscapable of processing video-on-demand (VOD), Electronic Program Guide(EPG), digital rights management (DRM), and a variety of interactive andmultimedia services.

More specifically, a system is provided in which media content residingon or being streamed to a mobile phone is forwarded to a display. Themedia content supports a native resolution of the mobile phone that issignificantly smaller than a native resolution of said display. Thesystem has media content processing circuitry, which up-scales the mediacontent to the display native resolution. The system forwards theup-scaled media content to the display, whereby the display provides theup-scaled media content to a viewer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings illustrate the inventions described hereinand, together with the Detailed Description below, help to describe theinventions. The reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same orlike elements and are used in the Detailed Description to refer to thesame or like elements. Below are brief descriptions of the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of the disclosed embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an implementation of the disclosed embodiment of theinvention in which the mobile set top box and the docking station aretwo disparate devices, as compared with implementations, within thescope of the invention, in which they are combined;

FIG. 3 further illustrates the implementation of the disclosedembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates additional features which can implemented inaccordance with the disclosed embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 depicts a concept used in the present inventions. A mobile settop box 10 serves as an intermediate device between disparatetransmission networks 12 and disparate display devices 14. Using themobile set top box 10, users will access content from content providersover the transmission networks 12 and then use the mobile set top box 10to display on disparate displays 14 the content.

The mobile set top box 10 can have access to one or variouscommunication networks, and can be capable of processing protocolsprovided over such networks, such as the networks and protocols listedin Appendix A, attached hereto. For example, properly configured, amobile communication device can have access to data distributed viasystems implementing ATSC technologies, IP technologies, satellitetechnologies and/or WiFi technologies.

In addition, unlike traditional set top boxes, the present inventionscan reformat content to fit any display. The mobile set top box 10 iscapable of determining the size format of the content received by themobile set top box 10, the size format capable of being displayed by thedisplay device 14, and performing proper up- or down-conversions forproperly displaying the content on the display device 14.

That is, the mobile set top box 10 processes data meant for any sizemobile computing device 10, such as a mobile phone with a three inchscreen, i.e., the native resolution for the computing device 10, suchthat the content is capable of being properly viewed on any visualdisplay, i.e., the native resolution for the display device 14, such asa large screen HD-TV, a computer monitor or a projector.

In other words, the mobile set top box 10 is capable of navigating thefull matrix of all forms of transmission signals, all for ms ofprotocols provided by the transmissions (many of which are listed inAppendix A) and all forms of display types.

Moreover, up-scaling video from a mobile phone can be accomplishedutilizing, for example, the “single frame super resolution LSI‘μPD9245GJ’ chip”, available from NEC Corporation, which is capable ofup-scaling image data from, e.g., QVGA resolution, typically found on amobile phone, to SXGA (Super eXtended Graphics Array) and large screenHD (High Definition Television) resolutions.

While the descriptions above and below illustrate the present inventionsin connection with a mobile phone, one of skill in the art willunderstand the present inventions can be applied in other scenarios. Forexample, one of skill in the art will understand the present inventionscan be applied to other mobile computing devices such as laptopcomputers or GPS devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates an implementation of the present inventions. Themobile set top box 10 is illustrated as a mobile phone 20 and a dockingstation 22. As illustrated, the cellular phone 20 merely passesinformation to the docking station 22 and is controlled by the dockingstation 22. However, the functionality of the mobile set top box 10 canbe in either device. In addition, the mobile phone 20 and dockingstation 22 can be combined into one device. Furthermore, the display 14is illustrated as a standard television.

As illustrated, media signals 12 from the user's cellular provider aresent to the user's mobile phone 20 and thereafter communicated to thedocking station 22. The protocols which are provided over typicalnetworks and which the mobile phone 20 is capable of receiving include,for example MediaFLO (Forward Link Only), DVB-H (Digital VideoBroadcasting—Handheld), DVB-SH (Digital Video Broadcasting—Satelliteservices to Handhelds), and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access).Furthermore, the mobile phone 20 is capable of communicating overvarious networks, such as 3G, satellite, etc. Other applicable protocolsand communication networks are listed in Appendix A, attached hereto.

Furthermore, converting 3GP, the multimedia container format defined bythe Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for 3G UMTS (UniversalMobile Telecommunications System) multimedia services to other videoformats, such as MPEG-4, and/or between any of the formats listed inAppendix A, can be performed in the mobile set top box 10 through theuse of readily available software and/or hardware encoders.

FIG. 2 depicts a sample protocol stack 24 that can be received andprocessed by a video card 26 within the docking station 22. The stack 24includes MPEG Video 28, 30 RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) packets,UDP (User Datagram Protocol) packets 32, IP (Internet Protocol) packets34, DVB-H data 36. Other layers of a typical protocol stack, while notexpressly listed, are implicit therein. The IP packets can betransmitted via multicast type broadcasts, and/or unicasts such as “OnDemand Video”.

On the output side of the docking station 22, video can be transmittedto the TV in various formats, such as DVI (Digital Visual Interface),HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), DisplayPort, S-Video(Separated Video). As indicated, the docking station 22 performs properup-conversions of the content before transmitting the content to the TVso that the content is properly viewed on the TV regardless of how itwas received by the docking station 22.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the present inventions. Thereare various sources of existing content 38 which provide feeds for TVprogramming, live events, movie downloads, video sharing websites suchas Youtube. The content is transmitted to the mobile phone 20 via thevarious telecommunication networks illustrated in FIG. 2 and discussedabove.

The mobile phone 20 and television 14 are connected via the dockingstation 22 as illustrated in FIG. 2 and discussed above. The dockingstation 22 determines the video display characteristics capable of beingprovided by the phone 20, i.e., its native resolution, and type of videodisplay characteristics capable of being displayed by the television 14,i.e., its native resolution, which can be far greater than the nativeresolution for the phone 20. Upon receiving content from the networks,the mobile phone 20 transfers the information to the docking station 22,which up-scales the content and displays the content on the television14.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the present inventions. Thesystem 12 can include a content manager 42 which receives allinformation from the various content sources 38 and organizes theinformation for downstream viewing on the television 14 by the user.That is, the content manager 42 organizes content distributed over thevarious networks 40 and provides, for example, a program guide, remotecontrol functionality, and, if needed, content filtering.

In use, a standard mobile phone supporting the relevant mobile networkswill have a display to allow the user to navigate available content andselect content. When the phone attaches to the disclosed docking stationit thereafter may be connected to any of a number of devices.

At that point, the phone or docking station will accept external powerenabling it to support a second, more capable processor and videocontroller. The docking station will take the output of the phone andallow it to connect to a television, data terminal or other externaldevice. In the embodiment in which the handset and docking station areintegrated, no such connection is necessary.

The mobile phone can connect to the docking station through a wired orwireless connection. Likewise, the disclosed docking station can connectto an external display system both wired and wirelessly. As previouslyindicated, in the embodiment in which the handset and docking stationare integrated, no such connection is necessary.

Accordingly, the disclosed mobile set top box meets the objects of theinvention by being capable of:

-   -   a. gaining access to mobile content through broadband networks;    -   b. leveraging the versatility of the widely accepted mobile        phone/PDAs which, when combined with the mobile phone/PDAs, is        used as an integrator for projection of content and interaction;    -   c. authenticating a user so that the user can receive media        service;    -   d. receiving programming information via a cellular or other        network, receiving a selection of real time or stored video and        audio from a user, and performing up-scaling for displaying the        media configured for a mobile computing device, such as a        cellular phone, on a large screen HD-TV.    -   e. serving as an intermediate component for receiving video and        audio from cellular or other networks;    -   f. enabling a user to “surf channels”; and    -   g. processing video-on-demand (VOD), Electronic Program Guide        (EPG), digital rights management (DRM), and a variety of        interactive and multimedia services.

In sum, the disclosed mobile set top box acts as a conduit betweendisparate data networks and media devices—televisions, interactiveterminals, etc., extending internet access and video content to thosedevices.

The purpose of the foregoing description of the is to provideillustrations of the inventions described herein. The foregoingdescription is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventionsto the precise forms disclosed. One of skill in the art will obviouslyunderstand many modifications and variations are possible in light ofthe above principles. The foregoing description explains thoseprinciples and examples of their practical application.

We claim:
 1. A system in which media content residing on or beingstreamed to a mobile computing device is forwarded to a display; themedia content supporting a native resolution of said mobile computingdevice that is significantly smaller than a native resolution of saiddisplay; the system comprising: media content processing circuitry, saidprocessing circuitry including: (a) up-scaling means for up-scaling saidmedia content to said display native resolution; and (b) forwardingmeans for forwarding said up-scaled media content to said display,whereby said display provides said up-scaled media content to a viewer.